"Behold, my Servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted, and extolled; and be very high." (Isaiah 3:13)
Christ the Pattern
These words of God were spoken directly concerning Christ; but Christ, as the servant of God; sets the pattern of service for all other servants; for all who yield themselves to God, to serve Him, are accepted as His servants. Christ declares himself to be the pattern, in these words: "Whosoever would be great among you shall be your servant, and whosoever would be first among you shall be your bond-servant, even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto [served], but to minister [serve], and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:26-28, RV, margin)
But Christ was made in all things like His brethren, in order that they might in all things be like Him. He has no honors that He does not share equally with His brethren; for we are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:17)
So as He sets the pattern for the kind of service to be rendered, we may be sure that He is also an example of the honors and promotions to be received. Every true servant of God--every one who gives undivided service,--no matter who or where he may be, or how meager his advantages have been, has the promise that he shall deal prudently, and shall be exalted.
Natural Promotion
It was therefore really in the natural order of events when Joseph, who was faithful as a shepherd lad, doubly faithful and loyal as a slave in the house of Potiphar, and who still served with cheerfulness and fidelity when he was most unjustly shut up in prison, should be exalted and placed very high. His governorship of Egypt began in prison, or, earlier still, when he was caring for his father's sheep.
Being pure in heart, and knowing God's Word as a life, and not as a mere creed, Joseph had insight into the secret things of God; so when the King of Egypt had dreams that he was sure meant something, but he knew not what, Joseph was the one man who was ready at a moment's notice to give the interpretation.
Calamities Are Stepping-Stones to Success
Here we see an illustration of how "all things work together for good to them that love God." (Romans 8:28)
It was cruelly thoughtless in the chief butler, to whom Joseph had brought such a cheering message, to pay no more heed to him after he was out of prison. Two long years Joseph was compelled to wait after freedom had seemed almost in sight. It might well seem that his bondage would never end, when suddenly a messenger came with the command for him to appear at once before Pharaoh, and within a few hours at most Joseph was the second man in the kingdom in name, and the first in real power.
But what if the butler had thought of Joseph, and had secured his release from prison as soon as he himself gained his liberty? Doubtless Joseph would never have been heard of again. But God had a great work to be done,--a work affecting the whole world, even to the end of time,--and His servant had to be kept where he could be found for service when he was needed. Joseph was serving God as faithfully in prison, as he ever did anywhere, and it was because he was a real servant of God under every condition, that he was so marvelously exalted.
The Wisdom of Obedience
"And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God has showed you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are: You shall be over my house, and according unto your word shall all my people be ruled." (Genesis 41:38-40)
Here we have a practical fulfillment of a truth stated long afterwards through Moses: "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land whither you go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." (Deuteronomy 4:5-6)
Joseph's wisdom was nothing more than that which naturally comes with perfect obedience to the law of God,--not mere forced compliance with its precepts, but a life which springs from the inborn Word. God gave Joseph success, and caused all that he did to prosper, in harmony with this truth: "Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper." (Psalm 1:1-3)
"The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28:28)
"A good understanding have all they that do His commandments." (Psalm 111:10)
Wisdom and understanding are as natural to the one whose life is the law of God, as beauty and odor are to the flower. Such lives as that of Joseph are recorded in the Bible, not as something strange and unique, but to show what is really the natural state of everyone whose life is wholly the Lord's.
How To Get Employment
One of the commonest complaints that men (and boys) make is that they "cannot get any employment." Joseph had no difficulty. He could get all his own work, and that of others, as well. Everybody was willing to let him work.
The keeper of the prison turned all his work over to Joseph, and even the king entrusted all his duties to him. And Joseph welcomed all the work that came. That was the reason why he had so much to do.
And right here we discover the reason why so many people are out of work. They are afraid of overwork, of doing too much. They carefully calculate how much, or how little, they ought to do for their wages, or how much they feel like doing, and when work is slack their employers have no difficulty in determining that they can easily dispense with their services.
But real worth makes a place for itself. The man who knows, and who can do, and who, above all, is hungry for work, and not merely for wages, will never be long out of employment. There is lots of work waiting to be done in the world, but it yields only to the one who will do it, and not to the one who merely toys with it.
When Joseph was in prison, receiving no wages, he put all his heart and strength into the work, as much as though it had been his own private business. Whoever will do that, will find that he is wanted. Most men out of employment would laugh to scorn the suggestion that they should take hold and do something, working for nothing rather than be idle.
"I can't afford to work for nothing," would be the reply. But a man can afford to work for nothing a great deal better than he can afford to be idle for nothing. Real, lasting success comes to the men who love work for its own sake.
"And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a chain of gold about his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee; and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt." (Genesis 41:42-43)
Exalted Through Humility
Here again, without the slightest straining of the matter, we see in Joseph the likeness of Christ. It was not merely after his humiliation, but because of it, that Joseph received honor from the king, and homage from the people. The mind was in him that was also in Christ Jesus, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant; ... Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." (Philippians 2:6-7,9-10)
"He that humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11)
The Prince of Life
Lastly, the name given to Joseph was most significant. Zaphnath-paaneah, according to Egyptian etymologists, means: "Prince of the life of the world," or, "Saviour of the world."
Bread is the staff of life; and as Joseph had supreme control of all the corn in the land, he was literally prince of the life of the world; and he was, under God, of course, or, by God working through him, the saviour of the world; because it was through his wisdom and energy that corn was laid up in abundance, "and the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands." (Genesis 41:56-57)
It was no fancy title that was given to Joseph. In this, Joseph was a type of Christ, the Saviour of the world, the Prince of life, the Bread of life that came down from heaven to give life to the world.
But we should see more in this than Joseph as a type of Christ. We should see in it the truth that we, like Him, are to be saviours of the world: for as Christ is the Bread of life, so: "We being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread." (1 Corinthians 10:17)
Bread is made solely to be eaten, that men may get life from it; so as Christ gave himself for the life of the world, we likewise "ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 John 3:16)
This we do in holding them always ready for any kind of service, no matter how humble, hard, or exacting.--Present Truth, October 10, 1901--Genesis 41:38-49.
E. J. Waggoner